Tire-mill.



A. W. CARROLL.

TIRE MILL. APPLICATION IILED MAR. 28, 1906.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS rut NORRIS FIIIRS to run! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER W. CARROLL, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO CHROME STEELWORKS, OF CHROME, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TIRE-MILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

Application filed March 28, 1906. Serial No. 308,444.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER IV. CAR- ROLL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire-Mills;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates generally to tiremills (a term applied genericallyto all mills for rolling rings, and not restricted to mills for rollinglocomotive tires and the like) and particularly to universal tire millsadapted for rolling rings of dilferent breadth or width of face, andconsists in means for preventing the work from creeping up on the rollduring the process of rolling, and in other features, as hereinaftermore fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Tire mills of the class to which my invention relates comprise a main ordriving roll, which usually acts upon the outer face of the work; aninner roll, which presses the work against the main or driving roll,together with suitable idler rolls, and, in the particular class ofmills to which my invention is especially intended to be applied, edgerolls, by which the side faces or edges of the work are rolledsimultaneously with the rolling of the inner and outer faces thereof. Inthe operation of a rolling mill of this type it has been found that attimes there is a tendency for the work to creep up on the main ordriving roll, thus giving to the edges of the work an irregular or wavyoutline, and practically ruining the work. In the case of a millintended for producing one or, at the most, only a few standard sizesand sections of rings, this difficulty might be obviated by the use ofcollared rolls, though at the expense of frequent changing of the rollswith change from one size of work to another. But in a mill intended tobe universal, that is to say, to produce at. will any size or section oftire or ring within its capacityand the particular mill referred to isintended to be such a universal millthe use of collared rolls to preventcreeping of the work is quite impracticable, and some device forpreventing creeping, capable of instantaneous adjust ment to any size orshape of ring or tire in the mill, and capable likewise of following thework as it gradually spreads under the action of the mill, must beprovided.

The objects of my invention are, to prevent creeping of the work duringthe rolling, to permit practically instantaneous adjustment of thedevice to all sizes of rings being rolled, to permit the ready removalof the device to facilitate access to the driving roll, and generally tomake the device simple, reliable, easy to adjust, easy to remove, andinexpensive.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which one form of device embodying myinvention is illustrated, and will then point out the novel features inclaims. In these drawings I do not illustrate the complete tire mill, asthe tire mill per 86 is not of my invention and forms no portion of thepresent invention, and since the general nature of such tire mills iswell known to those skilled in the art. I illustrate only such portionsof the tire milland these in the main diagrammatically as need to beshown to permit comprehension of my invention.

In the said drawings-Figure 1 shows a central vertical section of aportion of a universal tire mill such as referred to, showing in centralvertical section my adjustable stop applied thereto, and the mechanismfor operating said stop. Fig. 2 shows a front view of the said stop andthe operating devices therefor, in place on the mill. Fig. 3 showsdiagrammatically a horizontal section on the line ww of Fig. 1, andindicates in dotted lines the location of the said stop. Figs. 4-8 aredetail views, Fig. 4 showing a horizontal section on the line g 3 ofFig. 6, Fig. 5 showing a View of the shoe looking from below upward,Fig. 6 showing a front view of the shoe and its slide, Fig. 7 showing aside view of the same parts and Fig. 8 showing a detail section of theshoe, and illustrating particularly the hardening of the face thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 designates the main or driving roll, 2the center or pressure roll, 3 and 4 edge rolls and 5, 5, 5, 5 are idlerrolls which center the work. In the particular mill illustrated, thework is rolled while in a horizontal position, and consequently the axesof rolls 1 and 2 are vertical, and the axes of rolls 3 and 41 arehorizontal; but this is not the only possible arrangement. Suitablemeans, not necessary to illustrate or describe here, are provided fordriving the main roll 1, and the lower edge roll 3. Other suitablemeans, likewise not necessary to illustrate or describe, since they arewell known to those acquainted with mills of this type, are pro videdfor raising and lowering the center roll 2, and for moving it toward andaway from the main roll 1. Still other means not necessary to illustrateor describe, for similar reasons, are provided for moving rolls 3 and 4toward or away from roll 1 and for moving roll 4 toward or away fromroll 3; and means are further provided for pressing the idler rolls 5, 5yieldingly against the work. All such mechanisms are necessaryattributes of a universal tire mill of the class to which my inventionis applied, and are known to those acquainted with such mills.

In the operation of such a mill, the inner roll 2 is lowered, an annularingot or blank of proper size and at proper rolling temperature isplaced within the circle bounded by the idler rolls 5 and is gripped atthe edges by the edge rolls 3 and 4t and the inner roll 2 is then raisedthrough the hollow center of the ingot. Roll 1 is then rotated, and atthe same time roll 2 is caused to press the blank against roll 1, saidblank being thereby caused to revolve. The blank is then rolled in thewell-known manner. As above stated, it has been found in operating amill of this type, there is at times a tendency for the blank beingrolled to creep up on roll 1 during the rolling. To prevent this, Iprovide an adjustable stop in the form of a shoe, 6, secured to a slide7 mounted in ways 8 in a saddle 9 secured to the frame of the mill. Theslide may be moved up and down by any suitable means. I have indicatedfor the purpose a screw 10 driven by an electric motor 11, this being avery suitable arrangement, since the screw holds the stop absolutelyrigid, permitting no yielding thereof under pressure, and since themotor may be controlled readily from the main controlling platform ofthe mill, and will respond instantly to rotate the screw in eitherdirection; but I do not limit myself to this or to any particular methodof driving the screw, or to any particular method of or means for movingthe stop up or down. Vhatever device be employed for adjusting the stop,it should be one which is capable of rapid operation while the mill isin operation, so that the stop may be brought down to or close to thesurface of the ingot as soon as the latter is placed in the mill, andmay be moved upward as the ingot gradually spreads under the action ofthe rolls, keeping in contact with, or nearly in contact with, thesurface of the work during the rolling thereof.

As shown, the saddle 9 .is readily removable, being held in place bybolts 12 the heads of which work in slots in the frame of the mill. Thisconstruction permits the shifting or even the removal of the saddle 9and slide 7 to facilitate access to or re moval of the main roll 1; italso permits adjustment of the stop with reference to the main roll 1.

One feature of my invention relates to the shape of the shoe 6, and theconnection thereof to the slide 7. As shown partic ularly in Figs. 4tand 5, both the shoe 6 and slide 7 are cut out or concaved at the back,so as to fit up closely against the main roll 1; and the shoe 6, whileof considerable length, so as to cover a considerable portion of thesurface of the work, is also concaved in front, so as to permit a closeapproach of the inner roll 2 to roll 1. It is desirable that the shoe 6be removable from the slide 7, as said shoe is subject to wear, andrequires renewal from time to time, and also because it may at times bedesirable to change the material of this shoe with change of thematerial rolled, though in general I prefer to use a steel shoe. Forthis purpose and to permit ready assembling of the shoe 6 and slide 7with relatively little machine work or fitting, I construct these partsas follows: Slide 7 is provided with ribs 15, and is further providedwith ears 1G in rear of which are recesses adapted to receivecorresponding ears 17 of the shoe 6. The bolts 13 pass through theseears. The bottoms of ears 1G and the bottoms of ribs 15 are finished,but between said ribs 15 is a recess adapted to receive a projection 18of the shoe 6. This projection is finished at the sides and fits closelyagainst ribs 15,, thus interlocking the shoe 6 with the slide 7 againstendwise movement of the shoe with respect to the slide. The uppersurface of shoe 6 abuts directly against the bottoms of cars 16 and ribs15, pressure upon the shoe being transmitted therefore directly to theslide 7 without passing through the bolts 13. Said bolts therefore actmerely to hold the shoe in place and have no stress upon them other thanthat due to the setting up of their nuts, during the operation of themill.

As above stated, I prefer ordinarily to make this shoe 6 of steel, andit may be either a casting or a forging or may be worked down from asolid block. In order that the face of this shoe may be of hard steelwhile the backing of the shoe may be of low carbon steel, which is toughand at the same time easy to work, I preferably cast the shoe of lowcarbon steel and then by the well known cementation process, or otherprocess of recarbonization, increase the percentage of carbon in theface portion of the shoe so as to make it capable of being hardened; andI then harden the shoe. However, this is not absolutely necessary. InFig. 8 I have indicated by different sectioning the hard and softportions of the shoe.

hat I claim is 1. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, thecombination with annulus-rolling means, of an adjustable stop incooperative juxtaposition thereto and adapted to engage an annulus whilethe latter is being acted upon by said rolling means for preventingcreeping of such annulus.

2. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combination withannulus-roll.- ing devices of a stop in operative relation therewith andmovable in a direction substantially parallel to the axes thereof, saidstop arranged to engage the edge of the work during the rolling thereof.

3. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combination withannulusroll ing devices comprising main and center rolls, one of whichis movable bodily toward the other, of a stop in proximity to the mainroll and adjustable longitudinally with respect thereto, said stoparranged to engage the edge of the work.

at. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combinationwith annulus-rolling devices comprising main and center rolls, of a stoplocated between said rolls and movable longitudinally with respectthereto, said stop having concave surfaces in front and rear to permitits close approach to both rolls and to permit close approach of therolls with respect to each other.

5. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combination withannulus-rolling means of an adjustable stop, in cooperativejuxtaposition thereto and adapted to engage an annulus while the latteris being acted upon by said rolling means, said stop comprising aremovable shoe constituting the portion of the stop adapted to contactwith the work.

6. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combination withannulusroll ing means, of an adjustable stop secured thereto, incooperative juxtaposition thereto and adapted to engage an annulus whilethe latter is being acted upon by said rolling means, said stopcomprising a removable shoe having ears fitting into correspondingrecesses of the main portion of the stop, and interlocking the shoethereto.

7. In a mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, the combination witha frame and annulus-rolling rolls, of an adjustable stop arranged incooperative juxtaposition thereto and adapted to engage an annulus Whilethe latter is being acted upon by said rolling means and a saddle havingguides for said stop, said saddle removably secured to the frame of themill.

8. A mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, comprising incombination cooperating annulus rolling reducing rolls, mounted torotate about substantially vertical axes, guide rolls, and an adjustablestop arranged to act upon the edge of an annulus in proximity to thepoint of action of the reducing rolls, for preventing creeping thereof.

9. A mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, comprising incombination cooperating annulus rolling reducing rolls arranged torotate about substantially vertical axes, edge rolls arranged to rotateabout substantially horizontal axes and an adjustable stop arranged toact upon the edge of an annulus in proximity to the point of action ofthe vertical reducing rolls, for preventing creeping thereof.

10. A mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, comprising incombination uncollared smooth surface annulus rolling reducing rolls,and an adjustable stop in cooperative juxtaposition thereto and adaptedto engage an annulus while the latter is being acted upon by saidrolling means for preventing creeping of the work.

11. A mill for rolling rings, tires and the like, comprising incombination vertical uncollared smooth-surface annulus rolling re ducingrolls, edge rolls, and an adjustable stop in cooperative juxtapositionto said annulus rolling rolls and adapted to engage an annulus While thelatter is being acted upon by said rolling means for preventing creepingof the work.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALEXANDER W. CARROLL.

Vitnesses:

R. PALM, F. BECHMAN.

